


Shades of Life

by HydraRaptor



Series: Colours [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blind Adrien, F/M, With A Twist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-02-10 05:51:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12905463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HydraRaptor/pseuds/HydraRaptor
Summary: Adrien's unique ability helped him overcome his blindness. His ability to see people's colours told him many things about them: what kind of person were they? where were they? what, to an extent, were they were doing? and, for Ladybug, who was behind that mask?But now Adrien sits at a crossroads, confused and upset.  Marinette had two colours because she was Ladybug, and so did the newest member to Team Miraculous.But so does his father, and that purple is just a little too familiar...





	1. Orange

**Author's Note:**

> I planned to write this sequel sooner, but with school and the hiatus I couldn't figure out how to continue it. Now that season 2 has started, I've finally figured out just what this sequel's going to be. So, sorry for the long wait to those that loved My Amaryllis (and if you haven't read it, you need to in order to understand what's going on), and for those who are introduced to this series now, I hope you enjoy it.

The bell over the door to Tom & Sabine's Boulangerie Patisserie rang as Adrien walked in, a box in hand.

"Welcome-oh, it's you, Adrien," a voice came from the light pink behind the register. Adrien smiled.

"Hello, Mme. Dupain-Cheng," he said.

"Call me Sabine. In the months that you have been visiting us, how many times have I told you that?" she scoffed. "Marinette's in her room as usual, and Alya is also here today."

"I know; we're partnered up for a group project and decided to meet up today," Adrien said as he walked to the stairs leading to the Dupain-Cheng household, his cane tapping in front of him. Ever since he'd become Chat Noir, his senses out of suit had increased incredibly. The more time he spent as Chat Noir, the more he learned about his natural abilities and now could use a much weaker form of echolocation than Chat Noir could. Where Chat could "see" a room with a clap, Adrien could only "see" if there was something ahead of him with the same noise, but this was a large step from nothing. As Adrien's cane tapped along the floor, he could see the outline of the doorway leading to the house. Suddenly, a large man filled the doorway, his colour a light, comfortable blue.

"I thought I heard you come in," Tom said, "off to  _see_ Marinette?"

Adrien smiled. When he first started hanging out with Marinette, Tom and Sabine were very careful around him, announcing where they were, and were always cautious of their word choice as not to offend him. While Adrien understood their unease, it was the same way he was always treated: a fragile thing that always needed help. Although he wasn't sure, he thought Marinette helped put a stop to it after he confessed his problems to her. The next time he visited, her parents acted different. They still were wary about his blindness, but tried not to treat him differently. With each subsequent visit, they acted more and more like his blindness didn't affect anything, and now he was treated as normally as Marinette. Tom and him often joked about his blindness, something that he was sure made Marinette regret her decision.

"We're working on a project with Alya; since I'm a model, I'll be making sure it looks good," he said, earning a laugh from Tom. He stepped to the side, waving Adrien through.

"By the way, Adrien, what's in the box?" Sabine asked from behind him. Adrien turned around, shifting the box in his hand to a more protective grip. "Oh, just some supplies from home." 

He saw Sabine nod, then she paused, forgetting for a moment that he was blind. "Well, I'm sure they're waiting for you upstairs," she finally said. Turning back around, Adrien walked up the stairs, following the now-familiar path to Marinette's room. As he walked up the stair to her hatch, Adrien reflected on the past few months since Marinette had discovered Chat Noir's identity.

At first, she was mad that he had given her a hint when he promised that he wouldn't, but it didn't last long. A few days after Volpina was defeated and the truth revealed, Ladybug asked him to meet her to talk. With no akuma that day, the two were able to talk for as long as they needed to. At first, Marinette was too nervous to talk, but she soon warmed up after meeting Plagg. The two got along a little too well, and Adrien was secretly glad that he got Plagg instead of her. As time went by, Marinette calmed down and was able to talk to him like normal.

Then Adrien asked why she was so nervous, and all her nerves came back, her colours, which had been swirling around each other, suddenly flushed dark, meaning she was either angry, nervous, or afraid. She never got to say anything, though, as Plagg announced, "well, since you're apparently as blind figuratively as you are literally, it's cause she likes you."

Adrien had never seen anyone react as fast as Marinette did. Her colour switched to a dark crimson as her hand swatted Plagg out of the air in front of him. If he had blinked, he would've missed it. "You deserved that," he heard Tikki say. Marinette curled up as Adrien's mind slowly turned.  _If she likes me, and I like her, then..._ "Would you like to go out with me some time?" he asked, his mind suddenly yelling at him. There was silence between them for a moment, then she nodded. And like that, they had secretly been dating ever since. They spent time discussing how they should date, and decided that dating as Ladybug and Chat Noir first, and, because Marinette and Adrien dating when LB and CN did especially with how little they hung out, would be suspicious. That had been months ago, and while Paris' favorite superduo were confirmed to be dating, Marinette and Adrien were still "just friends."

Adrien's head bumped into the hatch; he'd been so focused on the past that he'd forgotten to count the steps. As he rubbed his head, he heard Marinette say, "come in."

Pushing open the hatch, he was greeted by the deep blue of his girlfriend and the vibrant orange that was Alya. As he walked into her room, he could see Alya's colour twitching; she was trying to figure something out.

"Hello Marinette, Alya," he said, shutting the hatch behind him and resting his cane over his shoulder as he walked towards them. There were few places where he could travel without his walking stick leading him, but Marinette's room never changed and he quickly memorized it.

"Was getting it any trouble, Adrien?" Marinette asked about the box in his arms. Adrien shook his head. "He knew we'd need it sooner or later, and he trusts us."

"I knew it," Alya said, turning to Marinette, her colour brightening. "I didn't know why you needed to talk to me today, but now I get it." She turned to Adrien. "So, how long have you two been dating behind my back?"

Adrien looked to Marinette, then back to Alya. He sat down next to Marinette, placing the box on the ground between them. "Do you want me to start, or...?" he asked her. Marinette shook her head, then took a deep breath. Her colour deepened as she steeled herself for the coming conversation.

"Well, first off," Marinette said, "what makes you think that Adrien and I are dating?"

Adrien could see Alya adjusting something on her face, maybe glasses?  _I'll have to ask Marinette if Alya wears glasses,_ he thought to himself.

"You invite me over to talk about something important, something too important for a phone call. When I get here, you stall, making me wait until Adrien shows up. That's suspicious enough, but then M. Model walks over to us  _without using his cane_. That tells me he's either been faking blindness his entire life or he's been here enough times to know where everything is. So now I know that you two have been at least hanging out, at most doing things that I won't mention. So now the only reasonable question left to ask is how long have you two been dating?"

Adrien looked to Marinette, and she looked back. "Well, it's not  _quite_ like that..." she started.

"Relax, Marinette, you know I've been cheering for you two since the first day of school." Adrien's cheeks felt hot as he blushed.

"It's true that we've been dating for a little bit," Adrien cautiously said. Although he couldn't see it on her face, Alya's colour seemed to say  _I told you so_. "But that's not why we asked you to meet us today."

He could see Alya's head move between him and Marinette. "So if telling me that you're dating isn't why you brought me here, then why did you?"

"Well," Marinette started, her hand rubbing the back of her neck, "how good can you keep a secret?"

Adrien could see Alya's colour darkening again, swirling around itself as she tried to discover their secret before she was told. "Marinette, in all this time that I've known you, have I ever betrayed your trust?"

Marinette took another deep breath. "Alya...I'm Ladybug." The words hung in the air, Adrien watching as Alya's colour slowly came to a stop.

"And I'm Chat Noir," Adrien said. The Alya's colour shifted to her usual vibrant orange. "Prove it," she said, crossing her arms. Adrien felt Marinette stand up and he followed suit. The two kwamis flew out of their respective hiding places, causing Alya to take in a sharp breath.

"Do we have to do this?" Plagg asked, zipping to Adrien's face, "isn't our presence enough?"

"I agree with Plagg," Tikki said, "but for a different reason. What if you parents were to come upstairs?"

"Marinette, Adrien...what are those?" Alya asked, her voice soft.

"Alya, these are our kwamis, what give us our powers. Mine is Tikki and Adrien's is Plagg."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alya," Tikki said, flying over to her.

"You got any cheese on you?" Plagg asked. "Uh, not...not at the moment," she responded. Adrien and Marinette sat back down, their kwamis returning to their respective Chosen.

"So let me get this straight," Alya said, "my best friend is secretly the person I've been trying to unmask ever since she made her debut in Paris. You know, that actually explains a lot, especially why you're such a Chat Noir fan."

Adrien felt himself blush again and by his partner's rigid posture, he was sure she was blushing too.

"But how can you be Chat Noir?" Alya asked Adrien, "you're bl-" She cut herself off, unsure if she could finish it.

"Blind?" he finished. She nodded. "Well, Chat Noir's suit gives me some special abilities, like echolocation."

Alya leaned forward. "Echolocation? Like bats and dolphins? THAT'S SO COOL!"

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. He felt Marinette's hand on his shoulder and he put his hand on top of it. "But there's more to it than just echolocation, but that's not important right now."

"What is important is why we told you," Marinette said. Reaching around, Adrien knew where the box was by the power that it emitted. He pulled it around, placing it between him and Marinette and Alya. "Open it," Marinette commanded.

Slowly, Alya's hands moved towards the box, pulling it close to her before she opened it. "As you know, Adrien and I have been fighting akuma for a while now, but recent akuma attacks have been harder to fight. We almost lost to  _Robustus_ , and after that we started talking. The two of us together are powerful, but just two of us won't cut it anymore."

Alya lifted something up, inspecting it. "Is this...a Miraculous?" she asked, her voice filled with awe.

Marinette leaned over to Adrien. "It's the same necklace that Volpina had," she described for him.

"Wait, isn't this Volpina's Miraculous?" Alya asked. "What ever happened to her?"

Adrien heard Marinette sigh beside him. "Volpina was Lila akumatized," he explained.

"I know that," Alya said, "I'm not the creator of the Ladyblog for nothing. I just was saying that it looks just like Volpina's necklace."

"She based her necklace off the real Miraculous, it's a long story," Marinette said. Alya slowly put the necklace on. Suddenly, an orange blur flew out of it. Floating in the air between all three of them was a small fox-like kwami with purple eyes. It floated there for a second before yawning, looking at Alya after rubbing her eyes. She flew over to her. "Hi," she said, "I'm Trixx, your kwami."

Alya held out her hand. "Alya," she introduced. Trixx shook her hand, then paused. She whirled around to see the other two with their kwamis. In an instant, she zoomed to Plagg, tackling him out of the air. "PLAAAAAAAAGG!" she shouted.

"Hey, Trixx," he said, "long time no-" A quiet smack filled the air as Trixx slapped him. "That's for Venice," she said before zooming off to Tikki, tackling her too. "Trixx! It's been so long! How are you?"

"I'm great, sis," she said. "Got any treats for me?"

Tikki flew to Marinette's purse. A moment later, she returned with a small pouch of mixed nuts. Trixx let out a squeal as she took the bag and flew back to Alya, landing on her shoulder to eat.

The three Chosen sat watching as Trixx ate the nuts. "So," Adrien said, turning to Plagg, "what happened in Venice?"

"Nothing that concerns you, kid," he grumbled.

"Trixx, I'd like to introduce you to my friends," Alya said, "that's Marinette, Ladybug, and that's Adrien, Chat Noir."

"Nishe to fmeet chyou," Trixx said through a mouthful of cashew. After she swallowed, she looked at Adrien. "You look familiar," she said.

"Adrien's blind, he won't know who you're talking to unless you address him," Alya explained.

"Actually, I can see kwamis since they're magical," Adrien said. Alya turned to him, shocked. "And unfortunately I don't think we've ever met," he said.

"One of his ancestors was the Ladybug in Venice," Tikki chimed in. Trixx pointed to him. "That's why I recognize you. You got that same colour thing she had?"

"Colour thing?" Alya asked.

"Well, I guess the  _chat's_ out of the bag on that," Adrien said, eliciting a groan from Marinette.

"Does he always pun?" Alya asked Marinette; she nodded.

"I'm sorry that it  _bugs_ my Lady, and I hope it won't rub you the wrong way either, Alya," Adrien said, smiling. His face grew stern. "As I told Marinette when I first told her about it, this is a secret about as big as my identity. If I'm being honest, I'd rather you tell my identity before you tell anyone this. Understand?" Alya nodded, then shook her head. "Sorry, I nodded; whatever this is, I'll keep it."

"Well, the thing is that-" Alya's phone went off, startling them all. She took it out, apologizing, then froze.

"Uh, guys, there's an akuma alert," she said. 

"Akuma?" Trixx asked.

"Nooroo's Chosen is evil," Tikki explained, "his Champions are known as akumas."

Trixx nodded. "So then some things about your newfound powers, Alya. First off, to transform, just say,  _transformez-moi._  To detransform,  _destransformez-moi._ Your power is called Illucio; say it then play a tune on your flute and you'll get to make up to 5 illusions who'll exist until they're touched by someone. You can control them however you want but you can only use this ability once per transformation. Unlike those two, though" she said, pointing over to Adrien and Marinette, "you can stay transformed for as long as you need to. Oh and I like to eat nuts. Any kind, just no macadamias. I don't like macadamia nuts."

"O-okay," Alya said, looking to her friends.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? We've got an akula-" "Akuma." "-akuma to fight!"

Alya was nervous. "Alright, then. Trixx,  _transformez-moi!_ _"_

A flash of orange lit up Marinette's room. When the light faded, Alya was gone; in her stead was a fox-themed superheroine. Her suit was similar to Volpina's suit, but was a darker shade of orange than Volpina. Her outfit was covered in a short fur that stopped just before her gloves. A belt around her waste held a bamboo flute as well as a piece of cloth that resembled a fox's tail.

Adrien stared at her; at first, he couldn't tell if she had changed at all. Then he noticed it: her colour had changed ever so slightly. No, instead of the vibrant range of oranges that was Alya, she now radiated a dark orange that didn't waver like her normal colour. Satisfied that he could tell the difference, he transformed.  _I guess the change in colour isn't always as drastic as it was for Marinette,_ he thought to himself.

She walked over to Marinette's vanity, looking at herself in the mirror. Seemingly satisfied, she turned back to find Marinette and Adrien already transformed, ready to go.

"Wait, before we go, I need a name," Alya said, "and I don't want Volpina." She sat in silence for a second, then snapped her fingers. "Renard Roux," she said. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir nodded. "Alright, Renard Roux, let's go catch your first akuma," Ladybug said, walking over to the hatch leading outside. The other two superheroes followed her lead out the hatch, and soon were running towards the sound of screaming coming from the Eiffel Tower.


	2. Renard Roux's First Akuma

Office supplies flew around the streets of Paris as Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Renard Roux searched for the akuma. Following the sounds of screaming, they soon found the akuma standing atop the Arc de Triomphe. From what Ladybug and Renard Roux could see, the akuma was a stereotypical nerd: a pair of glasses taped together, his hair slicked back with a stubborn cowlick or two, a dress shirt tucked in to pants that were pulled up too high with suspenders, a pocket-protector in his chest pocket filled with pencils and pens, and a bright red tie.  The difference was this nerd was bright green and was holding a calculator that seemed to control the swarm of flying papers, pencils, rulers, calculators, and compasses that surrounded him.

"Alright, Renard, stay out of sight for now," Ladybug said, "Hawkmoth doesn't know about you, so neither does that akuma. This gives us an advantage."

She nodded, gulping. "I'll surprise him when I find an opening," she said as she looked for a place to hide.

"You ready, Chat," Ladybug asked.

Chat smiled and grabbed his baton. "Time to introduce ourselves, my Lady." The two ran into the roundabout, grabbing the akuma's attention.

"Ah, Ladybug and Chat Noir, how nice of you to show up. Are you here to surrender your Miraculouses to me, the mighty  _Mathomme_ _?"_  

"Why is it every akuma thinks that our first impression is to give them our Miraculouses?" Ladybug asked.

"If I had to guess, he was probably just taking a _calculated_ gamble," Chat said, smiling. He could hear her sigh beside him. "So, how do you wanna do this?" he asked, ignoring as the akuma rambled on instead of attacking them.

"Well, I want to see how strong this akuma is before we bring in Roux, so let's focus on finding his akuma instead of trying to capture him for now."

Chat nodded, studying the akuma. "You know, one thing I noticed is that the strength of Hawkmoth's colour usually tells me how strong or weak the akuma is..."

Ladybug looked at him. "How strong would you rate this one?"

Chat tackled her to the ground as all the supplies that had been floating around  _Mathomme_ targeted them, piercing the ground where they just got away from. Looking at him once more, Chat could see that Hawkmoth's colour replaced about half of the man's cyan; the average akuma only had about 1/2 of it's colour replaced. "Pretty strong, I'd say," Chat said as he helped her up.

"You two almost caught me monologuing," the akuma said, "but I won't make that mistake again!" He pointed to the two heroes and the supplies followed, forcing Ladybug and Chat Noir to run.  "We'll have to split up," she said as they turned towards the Arc, "I'll go over and see if I can pinpoint the akuma; you go under and signal Roux to join us; we'll need her help." "Got it," he said. Ladybug threw her yo-yo up, lifting away from the ground as Chat continued running. From the sounds of his feet, he could tell that about half of the supplies followed Ladybug. He continued running, looking over his shoulder, looking for Renard Roux's dark orange as he ran under the Arc de Triomphe. But, as he stepped under the arch, he froze.

The world around him became frenzied and each step he took only caused him more confusion. Through his echolocation, the archway seemed to extend for kilometers in all directions, with walls shifting, growing and shrinking with each sound. Worse, each sound he made seemed amplified, hurting his ears. A moment later, Chat felt something stab into his leg and felt several cuts open on his arms and face.  _The supplies,_   _I can't see the supplies! I have to get out of here!_

Chat looked around for a colour, anything to help him get out from under this acoustic nightmare, but everyone had fled the square. Ladybug and the akuma were above him, and Renard Roux was nowhere to be seen. Blindly, Chat ran forward, an arm extended. The pain from all the papercuts and the holes created by the compasses pushed him faster. Suddenly, Chat ran into something hard, falling down as his head throbbed. 

"Chat!" he heard someone call, followed by the louder reverberations coming from all around him, yelling directly into his ears. He covered them, curling up to minimize the damage from the whirlwind of supplies that followed him. Something wrapped around his arm and he felt himself dragged across the ground. A moment later, the world returned to normal around him. Chat looked up, seeing the swirling reds and blues of his Lady. Jumping to his feet and wincing at his wounds, he said, "thanks for the save, Bugaboo."

They ran away from the Arc, distracting the swarm while they planned. "Any luck on the akuma?" he asked. 

"It's in the calculator; are you okay?" she asked. He could feel her looking at him as they circled the plaza, keeping the akuma's attention on them.

"I've been better, and I've definitely discovered a weakness of mine," he said. With his next step, Chat realized that the swarm of supplies that had been following him were slowing. Within the next few meters, the supplies had stopped entirely, returning instead to  _Mathomme_. He stopped running, Ladybug noticing a moment later. The supplies now flew around their master, blocking him from all sight. They were flying too fast for Chat to perceive through, which worried him.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he whispered. He felt Ladybug grab his hand. "Go get Renard Roux; I have a strong suspicion that we'll need her," Ladybug said.

"What about you, will you be ok?" Chat asked.

"I'm in better shape than you right now,  _chaton,_ " she said. He nodded as his adrenaline began to fade, the pain growing stronger. Turning, he scaled the building behind him and ran from rooftop to rooftop, looking for Alya. Suddenly, his ears perked up and he could hear music playing.  _Renard Roux's flute,_ he thought as he jumped towards the music. Sure enough, when he was close enough, he could see Roux playing the flute just below him. As he landed above her, ready to jump down, pain shot through his leg from all the cuts and wounds, causing it to buckle. He fell down into the street, almost landing on her.

"A-Chat Noir!" Renard Roux said, catching herself, "what in the world happened to you?" She bent down and helped him stand up. "I'll tell you and LB after; let's go," he said, limping back to the battle. "But you're hurt, are you really able to fight?" she asked.

Taking a deep breath, Chat responded, "don't worry; I'm _purr-_ fectly fine. It's a part of the job, anyways. Ladybug can fix me back to perfect once we beat the akuma. Now, let's go fight your first akuma," he said.

"I've already set up a trap for the akuma," she said, "if you and Ladybug can lead him here, we can take him down quickly!"

Chat nodded, running back towards the Arc de Triomphe. As he entered the roundabout once more, he froze. He could see Ladybug swinging around, running away from a giant humanoid creature made of office supplies. At it's center, Chat could see the purple colour that was the akuma. He cupped his hands around his mouth, ready to catch the akuma's attention, then paused.  _Beyond the basics, I really don't know much about math..._

Thinking of all the math knowledge he had, he went with the only thing he knew. "I don't know what Hawkmoth's offering you, but you should totally join us; we've got pi!"

The hulking mass of papers stopped, turning to Chat. "I am sick and tired of pi jokes,"  _Mathomme_ said, as he charged towards Chat. Chat turned around, running to where Roux was hiding. As he ran down the street, someone grabbed him, pulling him into an alley. Chat recognized the dark orange instantly as Renard said, "shh, it's Renard Roux. Stay quiet."

Chat's ears perked up as he heard a voice, his voice from elsewhere. "Hey, I'm right here," the not-him called out.

"There you are, you stupid cat," he heard the akuma say as it passed by their hiding spot. "Showtime," Roux said, tugging on his arm as she lept up to the roof above them, Chat following her a moment later. 

"TAKE THIS!" he heard  _Mathomme_ say just before a loud crash filled his ears. From what he could tell, the akuma had stomped where the fake Chat Noir was.

"What? Where'd he go?" the akuma asked. Roux whistled beside him as Chat heard Ladybug land next to them, a large pair of scissors in her hand. The akuma froze where he stood.

"What? Who are you?" the akuma's voice boomed.

"I'm Renard Roux, the newest member of Team Miraculous. You've fallen into my trap." The akuma froze in place; Chat could see it looking around, frozen in place.

"How? Where did these pillars of light come from?"

Roux scoffed beside him. "It's my power; I can focus light, control it, turn it into lasers!" she lied. The akuma believed it though. "Now, surrender or I will destroy you!"

"She wouldn't REALLY destroy him, would she," Chat whispered to Ladybug as Roux laughed. "Honestly, I have no clue," Ladybug whispered back.

"Fine. I surrender," the akuma said after a long pause. Chat noticed one of the akuma's arms move carefully out to it's side.  _Alya's powers must be incredibly strong to knock some sense into an akuma,_ Chat thought. "Hold on to the Lucky Charm while I get the akuma, Chat?" Ladybug asked as she handed the scissors to him. As she walked forward, the sound of her footsteps made Chat's ears perk up. He could see  _Mathomme_ at the end of the extended limb, the thing in his hand held out for Ladybug to take. But he could also see something moving inside of the supplies monster, something hard and sharp gathering in the center of the mass. As she stepped forward, he could sense it moving up the arm. Then, the oddest thing happened. The mass moving up the monster's arm seemed to glow red with black spots for just a second, so quick he almost missed it. the glow returned a second later, this time on the scissors in his hand. He realized what he had to do.

Pulling his arm back, Chat threw the scissors to where the mass of metal was heading. He heard Roux beside him shout "NO!" as the scissors flew, lodging itself into the paper arm. The metal mass exploded from the arm, and Chat could finally see what it was: a conglomerate of sharpened letter openers that now flew to where Ladybug was standing.

"The light was an illusion," the akuma screamed as Chat ran forward, calling forth his Cataclysm. Jumping past the roof, chat spun, touching as many of the improvised daggers as he could before grabbing the Lucky Charm and leaping to where he hoped the next roof was. He barely landed on it, rolling a few feet, opening the few cuts that had closed. As he got up, he could see Ladybug standing in front of him, facing towards the akuma.

"You almost tricked me, but thanks to that cat, I saw through your scheme!"  _Mathomme_ said, laughing. "Now, PREPARE TO...where's my calculator?"

"Calculate this," Roux said. Chat heard something snap from where she was, and he smiled as he saw the purple streak fly from her position. A moment later, it was snatched out of the air, purified by Ladybug. He sat up, handing Ladybug the scissors. "Thanks, Chat," she said. "Miraculous Ladybug," she shouted as she threw the scissors into the air. A swarm of crimson flew around, blocking out Chat's sight for a moment as they cured all of his injuries. When he stood up, Renard Roux had joined them, offering her fist to them.

"Good job," Ladybug said as she put her fist next to Roux's. Chat smiled, putting his fist next to theirs. "Not bad for your first fight," he said, "now, let's get out of here."

Ladybug's earrings beeped as she nodded in agreement. The three superheroes split up, agreeing to meet at Marinette's house.

* * *

Chat was the last one to arrive; as great as Chat Noir's abilities were, he always had trouble with locations. He'd made an effort to learn how to get to his house from several key monuments in the city, but he was still getting used to going to Marinette's house. Thankfully, he'd arrived just in time, his transformation disappearing as he landed on Marinette's bed.

Marinette was on him immediately, hugging him while Alya stayed back. "What happened back there, Adrien," she asked as she pushed him back.

Adrien's eyes followed Plagg, who'd immediately flown to the center of Marinette's room, where Tikki and Trixx sat eating. "Seriously, Adrien, you looked like you'd been through a meat grinder," Alya added.

Adrien felt around her bed, looking for his walking stick. One thing Plagg had made sure of was that his cane would transform with him and then return when he was done. Finding it, Adrien stood up and walked to where he was sitting before the akuma struck.

"I don't know what happened exactly," he said as he looked to Alya and Marinette, "but my echolocation didn't work well under the Arc de Triomphe. All the sounds echoed everywhere, and I couldn't track anything. Nothing was where I thought it was, so I was really blind." He chuckled.  _I've always been blind; I'm just less so now,_ he thought to himself.

"This is no laughing matter, Adrien," Marinette said, "you could have been killed if I didn't pull you out in time."

"So, poor or different acoustics cause your echolocation to fail," Alya surmised.

Adrien nodded. "I have to be more careful where I fight so that I don't accidentally stumble somewhere where I'm blind," he said.

"But if you should, then we'll get you out of there," Marinette said, reaching over to him and holding his hand. He smiled, squeezing her hand.

"All you have to do is stand outside of the place; I can still see your colours, so that will tell me where I need to go," he said.

"There's that word again," Alya said, "you can see colors? So you're not blind?"

"Yes, and no. What I call colours are just another way of saying, like, aura. Everyone has a unique colour, something I learned from my mom. I also learned what the colours were called, and it's how I first learned who Ladybug was," he explained.

"So you can see where people are and who they are by looking at their auras," Alya slowly repeated. The orange inside her slowly span as she lost herself in thought. Suddenly, she looked up. "What colour am I?"

Adrien smiled. "You are a bright orange. And before you ask, Marinette is sometimes a deep, beautiful blue, other times a bright, powerful red. As for myself, I can't see my own colour. My mother said it was a light green, a kind green, as she called it."

Satisfied, Alya nodded.

"I have to say," Marinette said, "you're taking all this information in much better than I thought you would."

"Oh, I'll freak out about it, don't you worry. It'll probably happen sometime tonight, so expect a midnight phone call," Alya said. "By the way: Adrien, could you tell where the illusions I made were?"

"No, I could only guess by how you and the akuma acted," Adrien said.

"Then we'll have to figure out a way to let you know where they are so you don't accidentally disturb them."

"Oh, that's easy; just change how you make the illusions," Trixx said as she floated over to Alya, sitting herself on her Chosen's head. "If you make the illusions by projecting them into everyone's mind rather than just visual, blindboy over there will be able to see them too. I'll have to teach you the song for that, but it'll take longer to play, so you have to be protected or hide while you do it."

"But then I'll be able to see where they are?" Adrien asked.

"Not just where they are, but what they are as well," Trixx said, pointing an almond at him.

Adrien blew a sigh of relief. 

"We'd better practice using it with Adrien, though," Marinette said. "Seeing things after being blind may be a shock to him."

"You're right," Adrien said, "we don't need me freaking out because you create something every battle."

Alya smiled. "I guess I'll get to work then; I'll leave you two to your own devices," she said as her smile grew sinister. "See you two later," she said as she grabbed Trixx and disappeared out of Marinette's room.

Adrien shook his head. "She acts like we've only just started dating," he said.

"Well, I guess it w-wouldn't be too bad if we started dating outside of Ladybug and Chat Noir," she mumbled, her colour turning a light red.

Adrien smiled and pulled Marinette closer to his side. Wrapping an arm around her, he rested his head on hers. "No, I guess it wouldn't," he said.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think about it; how much math could you do without a pen and paper or anything to record it on? Or if you couldn't even see the numbers, too?  
> Til next time.  
> Peace


	3. Purple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long break; I had very little time to write while I was at home, but now that I'm back at college, I can once more continue with my writing.  
> Also, having seen the new episodes since I started writing this, I can't believe I almost got one of the new hero's name right. I am both excited that I nearly got it but upset that I was off by _that_ much.

Chat was sitting under l'Arc de Triomphe, waiting for his partners in crime-fighting to finish their patrol and tapping his staff against the ground every few seconds. Since Alya, well, Renard, was new to being a super hero, Ladybug decided that she would accompany her on her first week of patrols to get her accustomed to her new life. After the akuma helped reveal Chat Noir's weakness, they'd agreed to meet up at l'Arc to see if there was anything they could do to remedy it. Now, Chat finished his patrol early and was able to sit and test different methods of sound production, seeing if any would help him "see" better in weird and new acoustic areas such as this. From what he was currently testing, tapping his staff against the pavement created a sound that caused the least amount of jumble.

Chat frowned. He could roughly tell where things were under the arch, but still couldn't tell what they were. And above him was an even greater jumble of noise, something that he could not penetrate. He let out a sigh as he stood up and turned around, nearly walking into someone who was standing there.

"Oh, Officer Raincomprix," Chat said, seeing the blue-grey colour of the policeman, "how are you tonight?"

"I'm doing well, Chat Noir; I just heard some odd noises coming from over here, something like a tapping sound. Thought it might've been a vandal."

Chat smiled. "I'm sorry; that was me. I'm waiting for Ladybug and Renard Roux and was tapping my staff against the ground to pass the time. I'll stop."

Officer Raincomprix shook his head. "You can do you, Chat. As long as you're here, I know I can count l'Arc safe." With a wave, he turned around and headed back to what Chat could only guess was his police car. Chat extended his staff, sending himself to the top of l'Arc, keeping an eye out for the crimson of his Lady or the vibrant orange of Renard.

Chat could only imagine what the view from the top was as colours from a great distance appeared and disappeared into buildings, cars, and whatever else could block his view. From where he stood, he had his own personal light show. Leaning against the railing, Chat lost himself in the sea of colours. He broke free when he heard the telltale sound of Ladybug's yo-yo wrap around the ledge. A moment later, a bright red streak appeared over the edge followed less than a second later by the bright orange of their partner.

"My Lady," Chat said with a bow, "how went your patrol tonight."

"It went well," Ladybug said, "no problems on our route."

"And here I was thinking we'd be stopping some major crime or something," Renard said, crossing her arms. "The LadyBlog gets dozens of reports of people saved by Ladybug and Chat Noir at night, so I was expecting at least to stop a purse thief."

"Well, that's maybe once every couple of weeks," Chat said. "My patrol was just as quiet. While I waited, I tested out several new sound-making methods for different acoustics, so I'm curious to see how that progresses."

"How did they go?" Ladybug asked, her voice hopefully optimistic.

Chat shook his head. "I found a method to vaguely see what's around me, but that arch just messes with me more than I'd like to admit."

Silence hung in the air. Adrien was used to being treated differently for being blind, but Chat Noir was never blind. Since that akuma battle, he had felt Ladybug's eyes on him, felt the worry in her stare as she stood behind him.

"It'll take some perfecting, but I think it'll work out if we ever fight an akuma here again."

Ladybug nodded. "Good, good..."

A minute of awkward silence was broken by Renard. "So, should we start training with illusions now or...?"

"I can't stay," Ladybug said, "I have to finish some homework, so it'll have to be just you two since it's just getting Chat used to them."

Renard nodded. Chat kissed Ladybug on the cheek. "See you tomorrow, my Lady." From behind him, he could see Renard giving Ladybug a thumbs up.

Returning the kiss, Ladybug leapt off the arch, making her way home. Chat turned to Renard. "So," he said, "where should we do this?"

"You don't want to do it here?" she asked, tilting her head.

Chat shook his head. "It's too open up here; there's no telling what could happen." Renard nodded. "Alright, then I have an idea; follow me." She leapt over the edge, and Chat followed. They made their way across Paris, finally stopping at their school.

"It's closed at night, so no one's here, and I know a few unlocked rooms that we can use. This one in particular doesn't have any windows, just in case there's a janitor here or something," she said, walking to one of the ground floor classes. "Now, I brought a ton of nuts with me, so we can try out a variety of different illusions for you to see."

Chat followed her into the classroom, closing the door behind him. As he clapped to see the room, Renard caught his hands. "I don't want you making any noise right now; my first illusion will be this room in daylight, okay?" she whispered. Chat nodded. He watched as she moved her hands to level with her mouth. A moment later, a flute song filled Chat's ears. Oddly, Chat see anything through the song, so the room remained invisible to him. After about 10 seconds of playing, a bright light blinded Chat, causing him to shut and cover his eyes, he let out a small scream of shock. A moment later, Renard's song finished.

"Are you okay, Chat?" she asked.

Slowly, Chat dropped his arms and opened his eyes. Squinting against the bright light, he hesitated, then resumed opening his eyes. The room was a wild variety of colors, each defining a desk, chair, floor, wall, ceiling, everything in the room. Chat felt his heart beating faster as all the new information flooded into his eyes. Everything was...bright. Desks were brown, the floor an off-white. Chat turned around to see a chalk board, dark green. His eyes raced around, his mind overflowing with new information. He took a step forward, and everything disappeared. His stomach dropped and he felt despair.

"Chat?" Renard called again. The room appeared again before Chat, but this time in the non-existence he'd known his entire life. 

He turned around to face Renard, her orange giving him some comfort. He could feel something wet on his cheek: a tear?

_"Détransformez-moi,"_ Renard said. Trixx appeared next to Alya, then flew into her purse.  Alya said, "I'm sorry; I should've warned you that moving around too much would disrupt the illusion." 

"It's...fine," Chat said as he sat down at one of the desks. His head throbbed. "It..it was a little too much for me right now anyways."

"We can stop now, if you'd like," Alya said. "I know I said I brought a ton of nuts for Trixx to eat, but if you need to stop for the night..."

"I can do a few more, just nothing as...nothing like the classroom."

"Got it," Alya said. Trixx reappeared from Alya's purse. "I'm ready when you are," she said. Alya transformed, then waited until Chat was ready to see the next one. In the next hour, they were able to get only five illusions; they were taking more of a toll on Chat than either had expected. He'd seen himself, Ladybug, and Renard Roux: his heart fluttered at the sight of Ladybug and he had struggle to not reach out and touch her. Next was one of their more recent akuma, Hibou Noir, which was more monotone and not much different from his colour. Finally, she showed him a few of the famous monuments like the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro, all miniaturized, of course.

"Listen, I'm getting tired; I think it's time we finish for tonight," Alya said as Trixx munched on a few peanuts. Chat was still sitting down; with each new thing he saw, he was filled with wonder. But as each thing vanished, he was reminded just where in life he was. Chat put his head in his hands. He felt Alya take a seat next to him.

"What's wrong," she asked.

Chat was hesitant. He swallowed, then sat up. "Seeing everything just...they just remind me that I'm blind. When they're gone, everything feels different, everything feels less, if that makes sense to you."

"I can't imagine how it is to be blind, Chat, but if you don't want to do this anymore I can try and make your illusions look like how you see them to make it easier for you."

"That's the problem, Alya," Chat burst out, "by seeing what you showed me, I now realize that what I've always seen is nothing! I've seen these things you showed me and now they're burned into my brain; everything is less now. And that sucks because there's something I really want to see but I don't want her to lose her value with me..."

He felt Alya's hand pat his back. "You want to see Marinette, don't you?" Without waiting for a response, Alya transformed again.

"No, Alya, don't-" but her music cut him off. Chat screwed his eyes shut. The song went on much longer than any other song Renard had played, and after a full minute of performing, it stopped.

"Marinette is my best friend; I see her every day. If there's anyone who knows how she looks and sounds..."

"It'd be Alya," Marinette's voice finished. Chat couldn't stop his eyes from opening, and he froze in shock. There in front of him was Marinette, in higher detail than anything Renard had created before. Chat had only seen himself, Ladybug, Renard Roux, and Hibou Noir, but he was certain that if he saw everyone in Paris, in all of France, hell, in all the world, none would be able to match Marinette's beauty. He could see her blue colour in her eyes, eyes he lost himself in. She stood there, a soft smile on her face. With a wave, she said, "hi,  _chatton,_ " and Chat couldn't breathe. He covered his mouth with his hand as he began to feel tears stream down his face.

"This is how I look, and how I normally dress," the illusion said, twirling around. Alya was right: she sounded and acted just as Marinette did around him. 

Chat Noir studied her face, memorizing every detail he could in silent adoration. His eyes kept drifting to hers, and he often jolted back to reality after staring into those eyes. Finally, Renard interrupted him.

"I don't want to rush you Chat, but I do need to leave soon..."

Chat took his eyes off of Marinette, and for a moment he forgot that she was there in the first place. "Oh, right," he said. Chat closed his eyes, picturing Marinette. She appeared just as he had seen her moments before. Satisfied, he nodded to Renard, who dispersed the illusion.

"I didn't want to see her at first, but now I'm glad I did. Thank you, Alya, for forcing my hand," Chat said, walking up and hugging her.

"You're welcome, Adrien," she said, hugging him back. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

Chat nodded, yawning. "What time is it, anyway?" he asked as they left the room.

He heard her groan beside him. "It's 3 o'clock," she said, "I have to be up at six to get some updates done for the LadyBlog."

Chat patted her shoulder. "I have to be up at 5:30 to make it to a photo shoot," he said, "you get used to it after a while."

Extending his staff, Chat pushed himself over the school, Renard jumping right behind him. From the roof, they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

* * *

Adrien was finishing some homework when someone knocked on his door. "Come in," he called. The door opened, but instead of the light purple of Nathalie, Adrien was surprised to see the steel grey of his father.

"Could you come to my office, please?" he asked before closing the door, knowing Adrien would come no matter what. So, Adrien stood up, grabbed his cane, and walked to his father's office, knocking at the door.

"Come in," his father said. Adrien walked in and saw his father standing at the window looking out.

"Yes, father?" Adrien asked.

"How long did you think you could keep a secret like this from me?" Gabriel said. Adrien froze;  _how did he find out? Was I not careful enough with my comings and goings as Chat Noir?_

"I'm sorry-"

Gabriel turned around and Adrien immediately stopped talking. He could feel his father study him up and down. Silently, he walked to his desk, Adrien following, his head hanging low. He took a seat and remained silent as his father adjusted some things on his desk.

"I understand why you would want to keep this a secret from me, but it is necessary that I know these things, especially when what you do will have an impact on your job such as this," Gabriel said.

"Please, father, let me explain myself-" Once again, Adrien was silenced when his father raised a hand.

"I wish that you would have been the one to tell me first, so that I would not have been embarrassed when your friend called me with information I did not yet know."

Adrien heard a click from his father's keyboard, and the speakers began to play.

"Hello, this is Gabriel Agreste."

"M. Agreste, it's Chloé Bourgeois. Adriki-I mean, Adrien is in trouble! I need you to talk some sense into him!"

"My son is in trouble? Can you elaborate so I can send the proper people to help him?"

"HE'S DATING THAT SHREW INSTEAD OF ME." Chloé's voice strained the speakers causing Adrien to wince.

"Mlle. Bourgeois, I can assure you that Adrien is not dating anyone or else I would be aware of it."

"Well, he and Marinette seem to be getting along a little too well for friends if you ask me," Chloé scoffed.

"Is that so?"

Another click from Gabriel's keyboard stopped the recording.

"Many of the modeling agencies know that a bachelor is worth more than a young man such as yourself in a relationship," his father announced.

Adrien, who'd been frozen with fear until now, found he could breathe easy. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you when we first started father," he said, "it must have slipped my mind."

Gabriel leaned back. "Mlle. Bourgeois said that you are dating a Marinette. Would that happen to be Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"Yes father," Adrien said, his nerves slowly returning to him.

Gabriel sat quietly for a moment. "I was curious as to why you disappeared so often; do Mlle. Dupain-Cheng's parents know that you two are dating?"

Adrien nodded. "M. Tom and Mme. Sabine know."

"Very well," Gabriel said, "Mlle. Marinette's works are quite impressive. I would like you to invite her and her parents for dinner this week so that I may officially meet them and determine whether or not they are worth having to find new agencies for you. I'll have Nathalie free whichever night they can come this week, so talk to her once you have a date set. That is all."

"Thank you so much, father," Adrien beamed. Gabriel's colour flashed, some of the steely hardness disappearing; Adrien was sure he was smiling. Behind him, the door opened and Nathalie walked in, something in her hand.

"M. Agreste, it's tim-" she froze when she looked up and saw Adrien. 

"Nathalie, you are supposed to knock before you enter," Gabriel said. When Adrien looked back to him, the steel had returned.

"I'm very sorry, sir," she said with a bow.

"You may leave, Adrien," Gabriel said. With another thank you, Adrien was out the door, his excitement filling him.  _I can't wait to tell Marinette! I'll head over to her house right now!_

He turned back to look for the Gorilla when he froze. Adrien slowly backed away from the door to his father's office, then turned and sprinted as fast as he could to his room, tripping up stairs and almost running head first into his door.

He shut the door behind him and slid down, the memory replaying in his mind.

_As he looked for the charcoal that belonged to the Gorilla, a royal purple colour caught his attention. It was only for an instant, but from a crack where he hadn't shut his father's office door all the way he saw it. And in an instant, it was replaced by his father's steel grey._

_No, no that's not what I saw. It must've been Nathalie walking in front of him and his colour made hers brighter!_

Adrien shivered, his back against his door.

_My father...can't.....be........._

_It had to be a mistake...right? A trick of the light brought on by all the illusions he'd seen last night._

_It had to be...it had to be...it had to be..._

But Adrien couldn't stop shaking.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Til next time.  
> Peace.


	4. Silence

A knock came from behind Adrien.  "Adrien," Nathalie said, "you're late for dinner. Please come at once." He listened as the click of her heals slowly faded, tracking her down the staircase. With a sigh, he stood up.  _Just how long have I been sitting here,_ he thought to himself. Stretching, he grabbed his cane and left for dinner, distantly hearing Plagg ask him to bring back cheese. As he descended the staircase, Adrien's nerves started firing, his anxiety rising as he went lower.

The dining room was empty, and Adrien drew a breath of relief. He walked over to his usual seat and could smell dinner already laid out for him. As he moved his chair back to sit, he could tell it was nothing special: steak and a salad. As he began eating, he noticed the food was almost lukewarm; _just how long had Nathalie left this out for him?_

The door from the kitchen opened and Nathalie strode out. As she approached Adrien, he studied her colour, looking for any sign that the purple he'd seen earlier was just a new shine to hers. In his heart, he knew it couldn't possibly have come from her, but still he searched.

"What were you doing that distracted you from dinner, Adrien?" she asked.

"I got lost in my homework," Adrien replied, purposely omitting an apology.

"Well, your father was going to dine with you to talk more about your girlfriend, but you were late. Try to be on time tomorrow." That wasn't a suggestion; it was a demand. Without waiting for a response, Nathalie turned around and walked out of the dining room. Adrien took another bite, the food now flavorless in his mouth. He picked up his plate, then walked to the kitchen.

"Is there another complaint from M. Stick-up-my-oh! Adrien! I'm sorry, I thought you were Nathalie again," their personal chef said from the sink. Seeing the plate in his hands still full of food, his jolly demeanor dropped. "What's wrong with the food?"

Adrien smiled, shaking his head. "Nothing; I just don't have an appetite tonight. Mind if I grab a bit of cheese for later?"

"Not at all,  _mon ami,_ " the chef said as he took the plate from Adrien. "You know where to find it, but do be careful-"

"Too much cheese is bad for you," Adrien and the chef said simultaneously. The chef laughed, then turned back to the dishes. Adrien grabbed a box of camembert and left, returning to his room.

As he walked up the stairs to his room, Adrien felt the hairs on his neck stand up. He turned around as a door closed. His heart racing, Adrien tried to walk calmly to his room, his instincts telling him to run. _What have I to fear in my own home?_ He thought to himself, then instantly thought of Hawkmoth. He shook his head, trying to throw out all of his thoughts from the afternoon.  _I had to have been mistaken, saw something I didn't._  He closed his door behind him as he entered his room. Plagg immediately flew up to him, making him jump.

"So," Plagg urged, "where's the cheese?"

Adrien tossed it to him, saying, "eat up; I want to go out tonight."

"But you patrolled last night," Plagg whined, "why must you torture me so?"

Ignoring his kwami, Adrien walked over to his couch and sat down, leaning forward. "Everything alright?" Plagg asked through a mouthful of cheese.

Adrien sighed. "I just want to get out for a little while, Plagg." 

Plagg chewed his cheese, then shrugged as Adrien offered no further explanation. When he finished the wheel of cheese, Plagg contemplated getting another box, but decided to fly over to Adrien instead. He'd kept an eye on his Chosen throughout the day and even tried to talk to him when he was still for so long, but Adrien was unresponsive. _Maybe getting out would help him,_ Plagg thought.

"I'm ready when you are," he said, a tinge of despair in his voice.

"Plagg,  _transformez-moi!_ _"_

Chat Noir stood in his room. Something felt different, but he couldn't place just what changed. He snapped his fingers, but couldn't see anything different about him; maybe he was just imagining it. He jumped out of his window, smiling as he felt the air rush past his face.

He wandered throughout Paris, not following any one path as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Chat found himself atop the Notre-Dame Cathedral when he noticed just how cold it had gotten;  _the sun must've set,_ he thought to himself as he mimicked one of the nearby gargoyles, perched on the ledge. He sat there listening to the sounds of Paris for a few minutes, finally finding some kind of peace. That peace was shattered, though, when he heard someone's scream get cut off. He instantly turned towards that direction, seeing a few fleeing colours below him. Quickly, he sent a message to Marinette and Alya, warning them of a potential akuma. He extended his staff down, sliding down it to the ground, before running to the slowly growing crowd that fled. He could only hear a few people shouting, though, which worried him. The word akuma was thrown around a few times as Chat ran towards where everyone was fleeing, leading him to a one way street. In the middle of the street was the purple shimmer of an akuma surrounding a light brown colour. 

Chat tried to study the akuma, but there wasn't enough sound being made for him to see it. He reached down and threw a stone towards a parked car, setting off it's alarm. The honks illuminated the akuma; an older woman by the looks of it who floated above the ground. Chat could see something in her hands, but before he could get another look, the akuma let out a loud "shhhhhh," flying over to the car extremely fast and hitting it with what was in her hands. Instantly, the car silenced. Adrien felt a touch of fear as he realized what she could do.

_The akuma must be in whatever's in her hands,_ he thought as the akuma slowly hovered towards where everyone had run, towards him. When she was close enough he jumped out, swinging his staff towards her hands. The akuma was too fast though and circled him, dodging the spear. Chat leapt forward as she swung her arm.

He turned around, and around the purple around her head grew brighter. "Is that so, Hawkmoth? Very well then. I am Hush," the akuma said, her voice raspy, "here to punish all the noisy people and noisy, noisy superheroes. Now, SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hush swung her arm again, chasing Chat as he jumped back. She used both her hands to attack as Chat leaped back, trying to hit him but continuously missing. Hush raised her hands above her head and slammed it into the ground, Chat jumping back just in time to dodge it. When he looked, the akuma was gone. He turned around just in time, bringing his staff up to block the akuma's attack from behind.

As he reeled back from the blow, he realized something that froze him: there was no sound. Hush hadn't been aiming for him, she'd been aiming for everything around him, silencing them all, making them absorb any sound produced. And now, his staff was silenced.  _Hawkmoth knows that I'm blind...he now knows that I need sound to see..._

The realization struck him a moment before the akuma did. Chat fell on his back, making no sound as he'd been silenced. Fear pumped through him as he stood up. The akuma laughed at him, revealing just how much she had silenced around them. No echoes came to him; Chat Noir was now as blind as Adrien Agreste. The strong purple returned around the akuma's head. This time, Chat saw a very brief sliver of too familiar grey, but shook his head.  _Something must be affecting my sight; maybe Alya and I went overboard with the illusions,_ he rationalized.

The akuma flew down a side street laughing, leaving Chat in the middle of the street, unable to move. When his adrenaline beat his fear, he finally managed to try to shout, "wait," but no sound left his mouth. He screamed, but there was still nothing. There were no people in the street for him to follow to sound, to safety. This street seemed to swallow any and every sound as Chat slammed things with his staff trying to make a sound. He carefully wandered in the street, his arms outstretched in front of him trying to feel for anything.

He couldn't find anything;  _was the street always this wide?_ Dropping one of his arms, Chat broke out into a run of fear, hoping to find something, anything that could lead him out of this hell. Suddenly, his foot made contact with the curb and Chat tumbled onto the sidewalk, his revelation about Hawkmoth's identity forgotten for a moment as his foot throbbed. He stood up, determined to get away from this street, away from the silence. With one arm touching the building, he walked ahead, his staff in front of him acting as a cane.

There was no sound for him. Adrien had been in situations where it was quiet before, but this was total silence. He couldn't hear the shuffle of his feet as he made his way along the road, couldn't hear the tapping of his staff against the ground, couldn't hear his own breathing or heartbeat. As his adrenaline subsided, it was replaced with cold fear and even colder thoughts.

_What if Marinette and Alya don't get my message?_

_What if I'm stuck like this forever?_

_What if Plagg decides that my blindness is too much of a hindrance and decides to find a new Chosen?_

_What if Marinette leaves me because of how much I'll hold her back with my disability?_

His hand suddenly disappeared from the building he was touching, finding an alleyway and jolting him back to reality. Chat looked down the alley, but couldn't see anyone. He swung his staff into the alley, hoping to dislodge a stone or cause something to make some kind of noise, any just to return some of the courage that now fled his heart. His staff found nothing, and he was disheartened once more.

He sat down, defeated. He didn't know how far he'd walked let alone how far Hush's silence went. Once again, fear took hold of Chat Noir, and all he could do was sit and shake.

The city grew quiet, quieter than normal. Chat knew this akuma was slowly silencing the city, but he couldn't do anything but sit there and wait for everything to be fixed by Ladybug and Renard Roux. He felt his staff vibrate and opened it, hoping that maybe this call from Ladybug or Renard would work. He nearly threw his staff away when he answered it to nothing; no sound came through whatsoever. 

Chat sat, too afraid to move, and time went on. It felt like he'd never left his room, and his mind returned to the afternoon, replaying it over and over. Chat covered his head, screwing his eyes shut in a fruitless effort to shove the memories away; he didn't need this on top of losing the world around him.

"CHAT! HE'S OVER HERE, RENARD!" a familiar voice called. He immediately picked his head up, turning towards the first sound he'd heard in an hour. A mixture of blue and red ran towards him, nearly tackling him when she reached him and threw her arms around him.

"Chat, I was so worried. What happened?" Ladybug said, still holding him. She finally pulled back and Chat could see her colours move, frantically shifting to blue.

"Chat, what happened to your mask?" she asked.

Chat tilted his head. His hands felt his mask, but he realized that there were no holes where his eyes would be; it was as if he was wearing a blindfold instead of a mask.

"Hush hit you, huh?" Renard's voice came from behind him. He turned to face her and she jumped back with a small yelp. "Well, to be fair, you weren't using your eyes anyway," she said.

"Renard, now's not the time for jokes. Hush is slowly silencing the city, which means Chat won't be able to see anything. We need to figure out a plan to get rid of her quickly."

Chat looked to Ladybug, then shoved her out of the way as Hush swung at her. "I thought I heard some noisy nuisances from over here. Found your precious partner, eh? You'll be silenced just like him in a moment," Hush threatened as Ladybug and Renard moved between her and Chat. Chat tried to follow the battle, but all he could see were their colours dancing around. Ladybug called on a Lucky Charm as Renard used her Illucio, creating triples of herself and Ladybug, each going in different directions in an attempt to confuse the akuma.

It worked long enough for Ladybug to work with her Lucky Charm, setting something up that hit Hush's hand, knocking her weapon out of it. Chat felt it hit his foot.

"Destroy the stamp, Chat," Renard called as the akuma bore down on him. He quickly smashed his foot onto the stamp, causing a butterfly to fly out of it and Hush to fall short. Chat was transfixed by the akuma and caught it, studying it with horror.

He'd seen countless akuma, and they'd always looked the same. This one was the same shade of purple as Hawkmoth's colour, but the black was replaced by a silver, a silver that disappeared from his father when his mother did. The revelation struck him like a truck as Ladybug and Renard walked over to him.

"What's wrong, Chat?" Ladybug asked, "let me purify the akuma so you can get your senses...back." She trailed off when she saw the akuma. "I've never seen it look quite like this before. I wonder what happened?"

Chat opened his hands and let the akuma fly. Ladybug snatched it out of the air with her yo-yo, releasing a white butterfly a moment later. Throwing up her Lucky Charm, the world began to reappear to Chat. Had he not known what he knew now, he would have been relieved, joyful even. As the ladybugs passed over him, he let out a deep sigh. Immediately, he turned and extended his staff to the building above, leaving Renard and Ladybug below.

A moment later, they followed. He jumped from building to building as they followed. Knowing Ladybug had limited time, Chat reached his destination quickly: his house. He jumped into his room, leaving the window open for them to follow. They hesitated, but landed inside a moment later. Chat ran to the door, locking it. He then did the same to his window, shutting the blinds. Finally, he turned and faced Marinette and Alya, who had detransformed upon entering the room.

"Hey, your mask is back to normal," Marinette said.

"Why did you bring us here," Alya asked.

Chat detransformed. Plagg, instead of running to one of his stores of cheese, stayed next to his Chosen, sensing something was off.

"If it's about your blindness and what happened today," Marinette tried to comfort, "it was a one-time akuma; a stroke of bad luck..."

Adrien sighed. "It's not about that. Alya, can you please go home; it'll be safer if one of us isn't here."

"What do you mean 'safer if one of us isn't here?'" Alya asked, annoyed.

"What's going on, Adrien?"

He hesitated, then decided. "I know who Hawkmoth is," he announced.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Til next time.  
> Peace


	5. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. There's no excuse beyond I didn't know what to write last week, so I had to put it off to this week.

Marinette, Alya, and their respective kwamis stared at Adrien. Even Plagg was shocked at Adrien's claim.

"I know who Hawkmoth is, and Marinette and I are going to confront him," he said.

"And you think I'm going to willingly leave?" Alya said, handing what Adrien assumed were nuts to Trixx. "No, we're doing this together."

"Alya's right; it'd be riskier if only you and I went, Adrien," Marinette said. "Alya may not be as seasoned as we are, but the three of us are strongest together."

Adrien sat down. "Hawkmoth wants our Miraculouses; if we fail he'll have all 3 of ours and no one would be able to stop him. That's why Alya shouldn't be here. I don't even want Marinette to come along, but if anything happens, I'll need her at my side. I'm sorry, Alya."

He could see Alya's colour twitching inside of her, but she remained silent as all eyes focused on her. "Hawkmoth is trying to get yours and Marinette's Miraculous, not mine. If it's just you two and he beats you, he's won. So no, I won't go," she announced, crossing her arms.

"I hate to admit it, Adrien, but Alya's right. If we confront Hawkmoth, then either all three of us should go or only one of us goes with Alya. It'd be too risky otherwise," Marinette agreed. Despite her words, though, her colour said she was unsure.

"You still haven't told us who Hawkmoth is or how you found out," Tikki chimed in. Now, Adrien felt all eyes were on him.

"During today's akuma attack, Hawkmoth talked to the akuma as he usually does. But this time, there was a new colour in Hawkmoth's normal purple colour, one I know."

"And are you sure that it's the same person and not just someone who has the same colour thing?" Alya asked.

Adrien nodded. "No two people have the same colour; even identical colours have different feels to them, and this one...this one I know well." His heart began hurting as he thought of his father.

Marinette sat down next to him. "Who is it, Adrien?" she asked, her voice soft.

"I really don't all three of us should confront him," Adrien said, ignoring Marinette. "And, no offense to you, Alya, but Marinette and I work together best. Should things go south-"

"WHEN things go south," Alya interjected.

"IF things go south," Adrien repeated, "then I want her with me. And if things go south, then I promise that we won't fight a losing battle; if it looks like we won't win, we'll retreat."

Adrien could see Alya thinking it over. The orange inside her twisted and turned over itself, unable to decide on just what do say or do. He looked to his side where Marinette sat and saw her brilliant blue solid; she had no questions about her choice now. Turning back to Alya, he could see her colour settling down; she'd made her decision.

"Fine," Alya said, a hint of hurt in her voice, "but I'll stay around as Renard Roux just in case, but other than that I'll go. Trixx,  _transformez-moi."_ A moment later, Alya was replaced by her alter ego. "I'll be just a call away," she said, anger tinging her voice. She turned and jumped out the window. Marinette watched her until she was gone.

"Do you really think that was the best idea?" Marinette asked.

"You'll understand when we meet Hawkmoth," Adrien said.

"Now that Alya's gone, will you tell me who Hawkmoth is?"

Adrien mumbled something; Marinette couldn't understand him. "I couldn't understand you; who is he?" she asked.

He mumbled something again, but this time Marinette caught two words: Hawkmoth and father. Realization and fear began to creep into her mind as she sat back. They sat in silence for a moment as Plagg and Tikki finished their snacks, steeling themselves for the coming battle.

When both kwamis were satisfied, Adrien and Marinette transformed. Chat Noir took the lead, Ladybug silently following him out of his room, down the stairs to his father's office.

The house was empty; Nathalie seemed to be out on an errand and the Gorilla was nowhere to be found. With no one to stop them, they slowly walked to Gabriel's office. Chat raised his hand to knock, but hesitated. "Are you ready," he asked Ladybug. She wrapped her hand around his. "We can do this, Chat."

Chat Noir knocked on the door.

Gabriel's voice cut through the air as if there was no door. "Come in," a command, not an invitation.

Chat opened the door, and both him and Ladybug walked in, closing the door behind them. Gabriel sat at his desk, preoccupied with the latest designs. "What do you need, Adrien?" he asked without looking up.

Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other, then back to him. "Gabriel Agreste," Ladybug said, "we would like to talk with you about Hawkmoth."

Chat watched for any change in colour in his father; a shock of grey to maybe appear as if he had no idea what they were talking about. Instead, Hawkmoth's purple began to stir inside of his father. Slowly, he watched Gabriel put his pen down and look up. A knot formed in his stomach.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir," he said, his voice unchanged. There was no surprise in his voice, as if they'd had a meeting scheduled for this time. Gabriel pressed down on something on his desk; a clicking from behind Chat told him that the locks on the windows and door had activated. There was no turning back now.

"Gabriel," Chat said, his father's name leaving a weird feeling on his tongue, "we have reason to believe that-"

"I am Hawkmoth. There's no need to beat around the bush; I had a feeling that you'd figured it out with today's akuma, Adrien," he said, sending a shock through the two super heroes. "And am I right to assume that Ladybug is Mlle. Marinette?"

Chat's blood ran cold as he looked to his partner. Fear was swirling inside her colour, so he took the lead.

"Hawkmoth, return the Butterfly Miraculous to us and turn yourself in for your crimes against Paris," he commanded.

"And if I say no?" Gabe interlaced his fingers, putting his hands on his desk.

"Then we have no choice but to take it by force," Ladybug said, regaining her composure.

Gabe laughed softly. "I would advise against that, Ladybug. It's true that there are two of you, but I have been doing this for much longer than either of you."

Chat felt a small bit of anger grow inside of him. "If that's true, then why don't you face us rather than sending out your akuma?"

Gabriel ignored the question, instead opening a drawer beside him and pulling out a small ornate wooden box. Ladybug immediately recognized the symbol on the box and guessed what was inside: the Butterfly Miraculous. Her hand twitched to her yo-yo, wondering if she could grab it and snatch the box away before Gabriel could react. Chat could feel the power emanating from the box and could sense Ladybug's urge, but grabbed her hand, sensing something far more dangerous in the room. Something about his father's colour scared him.

"I prefer to settle this in a non-violent way," Gabriel said, then motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. "Please, let's sit and talk this out like gentlemen and gentlewomen." Ladybug immediately realized why so many had become his victim: his voice was sincere and trustworthy; she'd almost moved to sit down immediately. Almost.

"There's no need for discussion," she said, "we're taking the Miraculous away from you."

Gabriel sighed. "Very well; perhaps a demonstration is necessary." He opened the box and took out the Miraculous, latching it to his collar. "Nooroo,  _transformez-moi."_

Before either superhero could see their nemesis' kwami, it disappeared, and a moment later Hawkmoth's purple replaced his purple-tinged grey. Ladybug's hand went to her yo-yo as Chat grabbed his staff. Chat sensed a hole open in the floor and the room was almost instantly filled with butterflies fluttering everywhere. Although a single butterfly is near impossible to hear, thousands created a blanket of noise that covered the room, blurring where anything was. Chat looked for Hawkmoth's purple, but the white from the butterflies was blinding. He heard the sound of a sword unsheathing behind him and turned, but saw nothing. Suddenly, a path cleared of butterflies, and Chat saw Hawkmoth standing directly behind Ladybug, one of her arms pinned behind her and something pressed against her neck. The butterflies slowly cleared from the room, filtering down the hole.

"One on one, neither of you are a match for me," Hawkmoth said once the butterflies were gone, "and since I know your weakness and how to exploit it, Chat Noir, that makes any fight with you even easier. Now, put away your weapon and detransform so that we can talk like respectable people."

"Don't do it Chat! You can beat him; don't worry about me," Ladybug said. In a flash, Hawkmoth dropped his cane and swirled Ladybug around, snatching both of her earrings in a single motion. Immediately, Ladybug detransformed into Marinette, and Hawkmoth brushed her aside.

Chat's fears immediately dissipated as he leapt across the room at his father, but Hawkmoth didn't flinch. Instead, he kicked the sheath of his cane up to his hand and struck Chat mid leap, knocking him to the floor.

"As I said previously, I have been doing this much, much longer than either of you have. If you wish to continue fighting, then by all means, do so. It would be so easy to steal your Miraculous that way. But, I am giving you one more chance; take Marinette and sit in the chairs so that we may talk." Hawkmoth turned around and walked to his desk, sitting down at it and looking to Chat Noir and Marinette.

The blow had knocked the wind out of Chat, and he remained on the ground for a moment, trying to regain his breath. Marinette ran to him. "Are you okay?" she whispered. Chat nodded as he breathed deeply, still reeling. "What are we going to do?" Marinette whispered, looking over to Hawkmoth, who mockingly tossed her earrings in the air, catching them a moment later.

Chat sat up. "Plagg,  _destransformez-moi."_ Adrien stood up, Plagg hiding in his shirt, peeking out. "We talk," he said, taking Marinette's hand. The two of them walked over to the desk, taking their respective seats. Hawkmoth smiled. "I'm glad you two came to your senses," he said.  _"Destransformez-moi,_ Nooroo."Much of his father's grey colour returned, but there still lingered some royal purple. A purple kwami floated in the air next to him. "Hel-" the kwami was cut off as Gabriel took off his brooch, sending Nooroo away.

"You want to talk? Then go ahead and talk," Marinette said bitterly.

"Very well. First off, I know that you do not trust me, and you have ample reason not to. But, I promise that I do what I do for a noble cause. I am evil, but that cruelty is necessary."

"For what?" Adrien asked, pain and anger in his voice. "Why are you doing this? Why do you want to take our Miraculouses?"

"All in due time, Adrien. But first, as we now know who each other are, this complicates matters. Had I not personally known either of you, then I would've directly attacked your civilian selves. But, as you are my son and you are his girlfriend as well as a promising fashion designer, I am at a crossroads. I'm not the only one at a crossroads, though," Gabe warned.

"What will you do with my information, I wonder? Turn me in to the police? That will only cause harm. I am financially powerful enough that, if need be, I can escape without a problem. And where would that leave you, Adrien? You'd bear much of the hate that I would receive as being the sole heir to me. That would also negatively affect you, Marinette, as my son's girlfriend. The both of you would be outcast and I would get away without trouble. Tell the Guardian? Who do you think I outwitted in order to get this Miraculous in the first place?

"And what if you team up with the new Miraculous user, Renard Roux? Surely a three on one would seal your victory, no?" Gabe chuckled. "No is correct. If you two are far too green to best me, then she is years away from hoping to defeat me as well. Now, I do not wish for any of these problems as I am a very busy man when I'm not trying to beat you. So, I wish to offer a compromise." Gabe put Marinette's Miraculous on the desk and pushed it across to them.

"I will not directly attack Marinette Dupain-Cheng or her direct family, nor will I directly attack Adrien. I will keep your identities secret as well, knowing how important that will be. I only ask that, in return, you do the same for me. I respect both of you, whether or not I show it. That is why I haven't directly attacked either of you yet. It is also why I am giving you back your Miraculous, Marinette. That shows your promise to me. But know that if you ever challenge me again, I will not be showing this kindness again."

Marinette hesitated, then took her earrings from the desk, her eyes never leaving Gabriel. She quickly put them back on, Tikki reappearing immediately. Tikki flew to her Chosen, hugging her cheek.

"Why are you doing this, father?" Adrien asked. "And how did you know who we were?" Marinette added.

"I told you, Adrien: because I respect the both of you as human beings. I tested you through a few akuma in order to learn more about you, and everything you did proved that you earned your Miraculouses. If I didn't believe you did, then I would have immediately shown myself alongside and akuma and taken them from you. And I knew who you were thanks to my son. I discovered Chat Noir was blind after that girl Sabrina was akumatized. The fact that he seemed to know who most of the akuma were put him in your school, where there was only one blind, blond student. I will admit, I was stumped on who you were, Marinette, until Chloé complained about the two of you dating, so you can thank her for that."

"Figures," Adrien heard Marinette mumble beside him.

"That's not what I meant," Adrien said. The purple inside of his father vanished, leaving only the steel grey.

"You want to know my end goal, then? Very well. My wish is to save your mother, Adrien."

"Save my mom? You know what happened to her?" Adrien asked, his shock apparent.

"Of course I do; but you're not ready to know. Not until you're older will you truly understand."

Adrien turned to Marinette, but she shook her head. "The Miraculous Wish isn't perfect. It causes a reaction of equal and opposite power: whatever you do to help your wife will cause someone else to fall to the same problem."

Gabriel folded his hands. "I am aware of what will happen, and I do not care as long as I can save her."

Adrien's heart grew hard to his father. "You will never get our Miraculouses, then," he said.

Gabe laughed. "You two will fall, one day. No one is perfect. Now, before you two go, I would like to talk about one more thing. I know you two must detest me as of right now, but as we will be keeping our promises, it is imperative that you two learn to separate your superhero lives from your personal lives. Neither of you have reason to hate Gabriel Agreste, even though you hate Hawkmoth. I have no reason to hate you, Marinette, or you, Adrien. If you cannot learn to do this, that will make our lives unnecessarily difficult. Especially when you come over, Marinette."

"When I come over?" Marinette asked.

"For our dinner date," Gabriel said. "Surely Adrien told you about it: as you are dating my son I would like to formally meet both you and your parents."

Marinette let out a sharp laugh. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but my parents are too busy to dine with a supervillain."

"But I'm no supervillain," he said, "I'm Gabriel Agreste, a CEO of a world-famous fashion company. And it's interesting you say that your parents are too busy; when I called them to invite them and you over, they said that they were free all week."

"You set up an invitation before I could even tell Marinette about it?" Adrien asked.

"Of course. I knew you wouldn't tell her once you knew who I was." Gabriel pressed the button on his desk again and the locks all disengaged. "I will see you Thursday, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, and remember our promise. You may go; I'd like to have a final word with Adrien. It should only take a moment, if you'd like to wait outside." Marinette stayed seated. Gabriel sat in silence, staring at her.

Adrien put his hand on hers. "You can go, Bugaboo; I'll be fine," he whispered. Hesitantly, she stood up and left. When the door closed, Gabriel sat back in his chair. Before he could say anything, Adrien asked, "did you ever think what would happen if whatever you're trying to save mom from affects me because of your wish?"

"I have. But you would not be in danger, not like your mother is anyway. But that is not why I asked that you stay behind. I asked you stay behind because I want you to think about discontinuing your lifestyle of being Chat Noir. I will not pull anymore punches when it comes to akuma, including the slight handicap I've been giving you due to your blindness. I do not want to hurt you, but I will do what is necessary in order to save your mother."

"And I will do all that is necessary in order to stop you," Adrien retorted, "and I have no qualms about fighting you either."

Gabe's colour slowly began to change; Adrien could see the silver that he once knew form in his father's center, but it quickly disappeared, leaving only the steel he now knew. "So be it. You are dismissed."

Adrien said nothing as he left the room, his mind processing everything that had just happened.  _I have to live with my nemesis and act like nothing's wrong..._

Marinette was waiting at the stairs, resting her head in her hands. Adrien walked over to her, sitting down next to her. "How are we going to do this, Adrien? You saw how quickly he took us down. He can do that whenever he wants!"

Adrien wrapped an arm around her. "But he won't; he promised."

"And how do you know he'll keep his promise?"

Adrien shrugged. "I don't, but it's all we can do."

"I should probably go tell Alya what happened..."

Adrien turned to her. "Please do not tell Alya about my father, though. I don't know how she'd react."

Marinette nodded. "I won't tell her. She won't be happy, but I'm not that happy about this situation, either."

"Thanks, Marinette. Thursday's going to be interesting to say the least."

"Why didn't you tell me about the dinner date before?"

"Oh, my father told me about it this morning, but I guess he figured I learned about his secret identity and sent out the call before we got back. It wouldn't be the first time he calls ahead."

"Oh, fun. It's going to be a looooong night..."

Adrien sighed.  _At least we have close to a week to prepare,_ he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 chapter to go!  
> Til next time.  
> Peace.

**Author's Note:**

> For those that don't know, renard roux is French for red fox, _Vulpes vulpes_ , the fox that everyone knows and loves (Alya's English isn't as good as Marinette's, but don't tell her I said that).  
> Til next time.  
> Peace.


End file.
